Chris and his wife had travelled to the mountain forests of equatorial Uganda to see the mountain gorillas.  This intrepid trip was undertaken to celebrate a significant birthday and significant wedding anniversary.  “It was just something we’ve always wanted to do.”

Chris described how they had flown to Entebbe, then on to Kahihi, and then travelled on to Buhoma Lodge on the edge of the Bwindi impenetrable forest.  From there they had made three treks into the forest, in a small party of other enthusiasts (supported by trackers, rangers, porters and an armed guard), to find a 15-strong group of wild mountain gorillas.  The treks had involved climbing some 1,500 feet through dense vegetation in very hot conditions.  But the effort had been so worthwhile as they were able to spend plenty of time observing and photographing the gorillas at very close quarters.  They had been told not to get closer than about 10 feet; but no one had told the gorillas!

From there they had travelled north to Primate Lodge in Kibale National Park to do some chimpanzee trekking.

Chris said it had been their most expensive “holiday”, but also their most rewarding.  His talk was well illustrated with images of the gorillas (plus some video footage) and chimpanzees – as well as pictures of some other wildlife encountered including baboons, bush bucks, colobus monkeys, butterflies, ants, herons, hornbills, and some long-horned cattle.

Paul explained how he had been surprised towards the end of last year to find holes being scraped in the lawn of his suburban bungalow in Leighton Buzzard.  He wondered whether it might be a badger and, his curiosity piqued, he had splashed out on a £50 wildlife camera to investigate.

With the help of night-time infra-red video, he had discovered that the culprits were a family of red foxes.  He showed us 15-20 video clips of the foxes in action, mostly feeding on the dogfood and peanut-butter sandwiches he has been putting out for them.  A badger also put in an appearance.  And the local cat and Paul’s dog played supporting roles.

Paul is now contemplating the purchase of a second wildlife camera.

Both our speakers were most engaging.  Both talks were extremely interesting and entertaining.  And they were lavishly illustrated.  Another most enjoyable evening at LBPC.